Estes | if there's a question you could ask Rob Estes, what would it be?

That's his choice his company not mine not yours. And now we know it pleases you to see people get bumped.

All us estes driver want be like "OD" we talk every yr around this time whats od doing how much is od getting for a raise etc... webb/rob know all you old drivers ain't going anywhere, plus w/ the nationwide driver shortage company is probably trying to figure out how to keep as many drivers as possible along with a new VP who came from conway where l/h hub are considered the same classification.... Bottom line l/h and hub drivers DO THE SAME THING except hub actually adds more value to the company...


Drivers complain about "hub runs" that are to many miles for a hub run or hub runs where drivers just do a turn...

15yr hub employee won't lose seniority to a new guy hired combo/extraboard/linehaul wont have more seniority to a guy who pit 15 yrs in and company and will be basically a new hire for switching to l/h... It's a good plan for stability and to keep ppl from leaving. It's a very smart business plan, coming from somebody whos pwned a business and sold a business for a profit I can honestly say I can speak from a perspective of seeing long term trends not just "I picked l/h so I wouldn't work the dock" short sided mentality.
 
I also would ask why city drivers gets the best raises? Why don't he just move them all down to 15$ or $16 an hour and pay overtime after 45 hours? 25$ an hour or what ever it is? Come on? That's way to much! Rob needs to let other departments catch up evenly before giving anymore raises to city. Make city and dock same seniority list, load your own trucks like hub, that way there's enough dock help around the clock and cut back on late loads and damages. Make them all responsible for they're own actions.
It is plain to see that you have not worked much city . I think that city is the hardest work that there is. Mgt always breathing down city drivers to make numbers , drivers are set up to fail on a daily basis with a almost impossible route to get done in the time frame they have. City Drivers are at the whipping post for anything that goes wrong. Pay is not fair compared to what Linehaul and hub pays. Think it through.
 
Im not p&d but agree y'all are wsy under paid for the BS and angry dispatchers/customers/TM's etc y'all are WAY under paid and if anybody disagrees then they never done it.
 
It is plain to see that you have not worked much city . .

I actually did work city. I ran circles around city guys we have until I realized what was going on. Then I gave TM a choice, line haul or I quit. He switched me. I thought for sure I was walking. I was not going to have no part of it.
I do realize there are good ones at our barn and they just deal with it. But the other majority of the city guys at our place suck! That's because they are part of the favoritism by nationality/ color crew. Two of the dispatcher we have uses racial favoritism to hand out loads. One was let go, the other is still there. Both dispatchers weren't afraid to show they're racial injustice either. It still goes on in our barn, and we do have a hard time keeping drivers.
I do realize we are slow for freight, but the other hand is because of the that one dispatcher who remains they have a hard time getting his buddies to work. I do feel for the other 3 dispatchers who bite their tongue and just go with with it. They try to be fair. But are made the bad guy for picking up the slack for that other dispatcher. Drivers are pissed of that nobody does anything about this dispatcher and his driver buddies, but what can ya do.
But that's why I think they're over paid. It's towards that one group, not all. So there it is.
 
Why do you have a category driver system, where people that work for Estes get let go with 10 plus years just cause they are Linehaul. Really a Driver is a Driver.
 
All us estes driver want be like "OD" we talk every yr around this time whats od doing how much is od getting for a raise etc... webb/rob know all you old drivers ain't going anywhere, plus w/ the nationwide driver shortage company is probably trying to figure out how to keep as many drivers as possible along with a new VP who came from conway where l/h hub are considered the same classification.... Bottom line l/h and hub drivers DO THE SAME THING except hub actually adds more value to the company...


Drivers complain about "hub runs" that are to many miles for a hub run or hub runs where drivers just do a turn...

15yr hub employee won't lose seniority to a new guy hired combo/extraboard/linehaul wont have more seniority to a guy who pit 15 yrs in and company and will be basically a new hire for switching to l/h... It's a good plan for stability and to keep ppl from leaving. It's a very smart business plan, coming from somebody whos pwned a business and sold a business for a profit I can honestly say I can speak from a perspective of seeing long term trends not just "I picked l/h so I wouldn't work the dock" short sided mentality.


I think Estes has the right idea when it comes to hub / linehaul. Guys that want to work the dock can and the ones that dont, dont have too. What some dont like is the idea of losing senority jumping around. Look it, nobody is stopping drivers from going to linehaul and visa versa. Conway sucks because drivers get forced to work the dock. Conway has a terrible time keeping drivers. This hub/ linehaul thing isn't what's driving off drivers. It's not honoring their own system, meaning hub=dock runs and linehaul=drive runs. When Estes doesn't honor that, people question the company's integrity.
 
how come my time means nothing to estes. I can sit and wait for my meet driver for one to two hours a nite. when I complain it falls on death ears.
 
ID rather meet on a meet guy for 2 hours, when it got slow back in 08 we were put back on extra board alot of us and sitting in a terminal with a bunkhouse or rat hotel for 20 hours waiting on a dispatch is much worse. But there are better places to work where you dont have to wait 2 hours.
 
ID rather meet on a meet guy for 2 hours, when it got slow back in 08 we were put back on extra board alot of us and sitting in a terminal with a bunkhouse or rat hotel for 20 hours waiting on a dispatch is much worse. But there are better places to work where you dont have to wait 2 hours.
Oh lord. Here we go again.
 
how come my time means nothing to estes. I can sit and wait for my meet driver for one to two hours a nite. when I complain it falls on death ears.
Cut times dont mean anything.No accountability.If a driver ran 1 to 2 hours late on his driving time on a consistent basis,it would be a different story.
 
I'd like to ask why I was headed south on 59 towards Houston and met a TLI pulling a set to Memphis. The next day I was told to pull a set of empties to Memphis.

I get that purchased transportation is cheaper, but when you pay an outside carrier to pull freight and then pay me 60cpm to go to the same place empty, wouldn't the savings evaporate?

This was also on a Saturday. Didn't have to worry about making service...
 
I'd like to ask why I was headed south on 59 towards Houston and met a TLI pulling a set to Memphis. The next day I was told to pull a set of empties to Memphis.

I get that purchased transportation is cheaper, but when you pay an outside carrier to pull freight and then pay me 60cpm to go to the same place empty, wouldn't the savings evaporate?

This was also on a Saturday. Didn't have to worry about making service...

That's just ignorant right there...
 
I'd like to ask why I was headed south on 59 towards Houston and met a TLI pulling a set to Memphis. The next day I was told to pull a set of empties to Memphis.

I get that purchased transportation is cheaper, but when you pay an outside carrier to pull freight and then pay me 60cpm to go to the same place empty, wouldn't the savings evaporate?

This was also on a Saturday. Didn't have to worry about making service...

empty and full pay the same. But corporate to dumb to figure that out
 
I'd like to ask why I was headed south on 59 towards Houston and met a TLI pulling a set to Memphis. The next day I was told to pull a set of empties to Memphis.

I get that purchased transportation is cheaper, but when you pay an outside carrier to pull freight and then pay me 60cpm to go to the same place empty, wouldn't the savings evaporate?

This was also on a Saturday. Didn't have to worry about making service...

I'm thinking those guys get paid whether theres a load or not. I wonder if Estes has to guarantee loads to get them to haul it every week. Just a guess.
 
The subcontractor bullshit is a parasite on the LTL sector. It should be the other way around, guarantee your own driver's runs first, then call in the cheap truckload carriers to haul the overflow. I'm thankful this is OD's mentality. Purchase transportation is generally only used as a last resort.
 
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